Ganch
The ganch are the first race that the Asevla discovered. Biology The ganch are a symbiotic lifeform. They are spherical in shape, roughly 30 centimeters in diameter, with 4 legs, 2 eyes, and a mouth. The majority of their body is given over to a brain and a flexible skeletal structure, leaving them weak if they are on their own, exposed to the elements. However, the ganch are rarely in such a situation. Their most notable ability is a form of telepathy that allows them to control any creature with a nervous system but no spirit. They typically gather in family units of 2-6 and take over a single creature, burrowing into it and integrating themselves with the body. The ganch's physiology is primarily devoted to controlling or helping their host. Their telepathy as mentioned allows them to control the host, usually extending its lifespan as it makes superior choices. The ganch can also trick the host's immune system into accepting them while at the same time strengthening it against other intruders. The can use their leg muscles to contract and expand their bodies as the host's blood flows through them faster, and this can even fill in for a creature whose heart has been destroyed. They also bring myriad other benefits such as faster healing, mood regulation, and augmentation of many other organ functions. Ganch have an incredible sense of taste that also functions as a sense of smell if they are outside a host body. They can see heat but not light, and have poor but serviceable hearing. Discovery by and Integration with the Asevla The first inhabitable planet the asevla found was the ganch homeworld. At the time, the ganch were limited to what humans would call stone-age technology. The ganch were not stupid; they were masters of husbandry and had extensive breeding programs for their livestock. They had even created massive wonders comparable to the pyramids and Mount Rushmore on earth. They also had a complex legal system and a means of writing to preserve knowledge. What they had not developed, however, were advanced tools. Their most advanced agricultural implement was the plow, and even that was not used planetwide. The ganch had always been limited to what their animal hosts could manipulate and accomplish, and this left them as a basic agricultural society living in caves and struggling to make fire when the asevla ships landed on their planet. The asevla took over the planet as their own, and though the ganch put up some resistance at times, the asevla's mastery of both magic and biotech meant ganch conflict was more a nuisance than a threat. What skirmishes took place were usually shrugged off without a significant attempt at reprisal.The ganch were adopted as second-class citizens and given rights as the asevla saw fit. Their culture was assumed to be inherently inferior to that of the asevla and asevla politics had no interest in what someone with barely a century's worth of life experience thought should be done about issues. Ganch were also seen as ugly and creepy. But most of all, they had no dominion. The Asevla had mostly assumed that there were no other people out there in the stars prior to this point. They assumed that any peoples they did meet would be more or less their equals, and as such would have dominion. (explain better how the asevla tie personhood and dominion together, even though the ganch are clearly people because telepathy) The one thing the asevla did appreciate from the ganch was their DNA. Asevla biotech always has an influx of advances whenever a new group of lifeforms is discovered. But nothing has yet compared to the discovery of the ganch's telepathic brain. This revolutionized asevla communications, which had previously relied on light beacons transmitting in blink code, neuron networks thousands of kilometers long, as well as communication that could happen in person. The ganch added a new option: long-range telepathy. It was discovered that transmission happened at the speed of light at massive ranges, and if a portal to warp was open, messages could be sent through warp. This developed into the asevla mental network that is in use to this day. It took three generations (approximately 90 human years) but the ganch were able to finally able to adapt to asevla culture and understand asevla technology. All this time the ganch were somewhere between slaves and children. But that changed when they revolted. Ganch could not use dominion directly, but they could use dominion-based tools, and they learned to use this with a proficiency that astonished the Asevla. They seized a number of asevla vessels and managed to engage in a number of hit-and-run naval engagements. This shook asevla culture to the core. They had faced much more dire threats in one war. But this act demonstrated that the ganch could no longer be relegated to the sidelines as children or incompetents. Though the ganch had not conquered the asevla by any means, they had shown cunning, prowess, and a mastery of biotechnology the asevla could not have imagined. In the short term this led to the mass incarceration of all ganch, with many being killed if they seemed to be a threat. But after the war the asevla saw the ganch in a new light, as beings who were capable of achieving ends they saw fit to achieve, and not just incompetents to be watched over and cared for, but never allowed to achieve success. The end of the war is credited by the asevla to counselor Ademaina. She met with the ganch leadership and did the unthinkable, she decided to partner with one and let it live inside her. While this action horrified many asevla, it also shocked them out of their complacency. Ademaina shrugged it off as not being too different from pregnancy. This act earned her the trust of the Ganch. And as a counselor, she already had the respect of the asevla. She and her partner were thus able to walk between both worlds without barrier, speaking with both sides and arranging ceasefires and eventually brokering a peace. The resulting shift allowed the ganch greater influence and independence. Ganch family and clan structure were given legal recognition. Current Standing Though the ganch have yet to achieve anything resembling equality with the asevla in the culture, they have carved out a niche for themselves. The asevla are adept at building biotech bodies to suit the ganch, and the ganch in turn pilot these organisms, often serving as heavy infantry that are on par with mechs used by mechtech civilization. Many other ganch work in the blood vessels of ships and other organisms, able to perform maintenance tasks that no asevla could do. Other ganch are natural integrators with the neural network. Without dominion, the ganch will never be able to develop cutting-edge biotechnology. But they have no problems making effective use of it. Psychology and Culture Ganch form strong family units. Their short-range telepathy allows them extensive communication with those nearby, easily sharing thoughts, emotions, and concepts without the need for inefficient verbal intermediary channels. The ganch can even pass skills down this way; not explaining how to do the task but directly transmitting the ability to the other person, though this takes time and repetition to accomplish as multiple ganch work on the same task in unison.